


Lucky Us

by fadewithfury (foxmoon)



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Episode: s04e11 Turn Left, F/F, Femslash, Grief/Mourning, Physical Disability, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 13:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5418533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxmoon/pseuds/fadewithfury
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Donna’s bubble universe had kept going after her past self made the left turn?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lucky Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [naturalblues](https://archiveofourown.org/users/naturalblues/gifts).



> The Doctor is deceased, as this takes place in the Turn Left universe.
> 
> This fic involves a character with disabilities. I did my best to be careful, but as I don’t have personal experience I might have messed up, so please feel free to message me if I’ve written something that needs to be addressed.

Donna stared at the white sky and imagined that it was as solid as a wall. It helped to focus on something like that. Kept the agony from taking over.

As she lay there, a resounding numbness replaced the pain limb by limb. She was slipping, the edges of the world blurred and dull. Somewhere in the distance she heard a siren.

Despite her body’s protests, she kept her eyes wide open. She didn’t want to die.  _Bit too late for that._

A dark shape came into view, obstructing the stark sky overhead.  As Donna’s sight adjusted to the shift in light, she recognized it as a face. A familiar face, whose mouth moved with words clouded by a rush of sound. Traffic? Right, she was lying on the street. She blinked and focused on the face overhead. It was that woman that’d told her to do this. Told her to take her own bloody life.

_Stop. You chose this. The stars were going out. There wasn_   _’t time to warn your past self, and you picked the perfect diversion._

The woman’s blonde hair brushed Donna’s cheek as she leaned close to her ear, repeating her message.

“Bad wolf.”

Her soft voice, despite its ominous message, lulled Donna further, and her eyes drifted shut.

—-

Donna woke from a deep sleep and found herself in a hospital room, IV jammed in her vein. The pain was gone, or at least medicated, and something woven around her head obscured her vision.

She heard the soft breathing of someone in the room, and looked over to find the blonde woman in a stiff recliner nearby, head folded to her shoulder in slumber. Her frame was so narrow, and the dim track lighting overhead deepened the circles under her eyes.

“I’m alive,” Donna whispered.

A memory of the truck that hit her flashed in her mind. She flinched and the rhythmic beeping of her heart monitor quickened.

A nurse entered to check on her, and wordlessly examined her vitals. At last he turned to her with a smile.

"How are you feeling?”

“Um, a bit off. You know how it is.” She winced as she tried to pull a face.

The nurse chuckled. “I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake.”

Donna nodded and he left.

She inspected her injuries. Cast on her leg. Bandages all over.  But, how could this be? It hadn’t worked. She cocked it up—clearly  _not_ the ‘most important woman in all of creation,’ or whatever bullocks that woman had said.

“You’re awake,” came a rough voice from the chair.

Donna resettled against the hospital bed and turned away. “The doctor’s coming soon.”

She heard the woman stand and move to the window. They said nothing more to each other, and after the doctor’s visit and a kip, Donna woke to find herself alone.

—-

Eleven days, five surgeries, and a psych evaluation later, Donna was released from the hospital and moved into rehabilitative care. She hadn’t seen the blonde woman since she’d awoken from the coma, and hoped it’d stay that way.

A severe concussion left her with constant headaches, but at least the skin abrasions and cuts were healing nicely.

The worst of it wouldn’t be realised until months later, when it’d become clear that she’d be unable to walk without pain. Her mind translated that to: unable to live her life, unable to work. A miserable burden on her mother and anyone else she knew. More than ever before. She had to be wheeled out to look at the stars with her grandfather, the hill too steep and her arms too weak to push on her own.

One clear night, she noticed something about the sky that stirred a bit of hope in her chest.

The stars were back. Maybe she’d helped things after all. Tears blurred the stars into glowing blots as her grandfather pointed out the constellations. The blonde woman’s words came back to her then. Impossible stories about a man called the Doctor, a space-and-time machine, and of travelling the universe. In the hospital, she’d come to terms that they were all lies, and it was all some cruel joke, but what if…

“Are you all right, love?” asked her grandfather.

Donna laughed, wiping her eyes. “Better than. There’s someone I need to find.”

—-

Donna couldn’t remember where the woman had taken her to show her the time ship. But that didn’t stop her from looking. Internet searches, phone calls, revisiting places where they’d met. None of it turned up a damn thing.

There was one more spot to visit, but the pain in her hips made every step unbearable. Physical therapy had helped her regain the ability to walk, but only for so long. Thankfully the bus stop was close by.

She wheeled as far as she could towards the park, and walked the remaining steps to the bench, fighting tears as the ache radiated down her legs. Taking a deep breath, she focused outside of herself on the stars above, and carefully lowered herself.

“Where are you? I don’t even know your name.”

This was all ridiculous. How do you find a woman who just appeared out of thin air?

Movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention, and she looked in time to see the blonde woman standing there, frozen as though she’d been caught.

“Oi! You’re he—” Donna sucked through her teeth as a jab of pain flared through her hips when she tried to stand too quickly.

“Sorry, didn’t know you’d be here,” said the woman, shoving her hands into her pockets. She began to turn away.

“No, wait. I’ve been trying to find you.”

The woman paused, looking down. Her hair fell over her shoulder, obscuring her face. “’M sorry.”

Donna’s heart twisted at the way her voice broke, but then she opened her damn mouth. “What happened? Why are we still here? You said I’d die. I’m a wreck because of you!”

It all just shot out of her like arrows that had been drawn for far too long to remain knocked on the bow.

The woman glanced over at Donna’s wheelchair, and then over to Donna directly. Her eyes were dark and hollow, like wherever she looked she saw nothing but ghosts.

Donna flinched and squeezed the bench, suddenly not wanting her to come any closer.

“I thought it’d all disappear, but I was wrong,” said the woman, moving a strand of hair that the wind had wafted into her face. She seemed unaffected by Donna’s accusatory tone.

“But the stars are back.”

The woman looked up, scanning the night sky. “Yeah.”

“You never told me your name.”

“I’m no one. Forget me.” She took a step to leave.

“I bloody well could never forget you.”

The anger in Donna’s tone made the woman stop in her tracks. Good.

“You show up in my life, literally appearing out of thin air. You said I was important!” Donna gave a derisive laugh at that. “Said I travelled the universe with a man called the Doctor, and I thought you were a nutter, but then I saw the stars had gone out and I believed you. I saved worlds, you said. How could I forget something like that?”

“You did; it’s true. You saved every universe out there.”

“Then how are we still here?”

The woman’s chest rose and fell with a heavy breath, and she walked over to sit next to Donna on the bench.

“You also saved this one. Became its own universe, is what I reckon, so there’s another me and you carrying on. We’re in a new parallel world.” She didn’t smile.

“Oh. Lucky us.”

That made her smile, but it was only at the surface, like a flower floating on dark water. Her gaze shifted to meet Donna’s. “I’m Rose. Rose Tyler.”

Donna returned the smile, but it wavered as she felt another headache coming on.

Rose turned her body towards Donna then, reaching out reflexively, but she closed her hand into a fist and pulled it back to her lap.

Donna’s brows met and she looked Rose over. The woman wore grief like a heavy coat, weighing her shoulders down.

“I’ll be fine, just a headache. Guess we’ve both lost something. Made sacrifices for the greater good.” She said the last bit with somewhat of a cheeky tone, and immediately regretted it.

Rose stiffened and looked away. “Yeah.”

Donna never did get much clarity on Rose’s relationship with the Doctor, but he’d obviously been significant to her. And now she was stuck in this universe without him. She’d probably been looking forward to the end.

“I should go,” Rose said, and stood. “Do you need help back to the bus stop?”

Donna’s heart sank under a weight of guilt. “Oh no, please don’t leave. I was stupid. That was stupid what I said.”

“No, no. Wasn’t at all. You’re just telling the truth.” She bit her lip and hesitated. “Maybe I can ride home with you.”

Donna stood, bracing herself on the back of the bench, and took a few stiff steps to stand before her wheelchair. “Thank you.”

—-

They met regularly after that. Bonded over their shared experience of being two of only a handful of people who had any idea that for three weeks the existence of the whole of creation hung in the balance.

It wasn’t long before Rose opened up to Donna about whatever she knew of her travels with the Doctor. Things she’d learnt from working with UNIT. Apparently, Donna had seen the beginning of the Earth, when it was just a swirling cloud of rocks and dust. She’d saved alien races, and solved mysteries. It all brought tears to her eyes, and that night she cried herself to sleep wishing she could be this other version of herself more than anything.

Just two days later, the rehabilitation nurse informed her that she’d likely never fully regain her ability to walk more than a few metres. The injury had just been too severe. Rose held her hand during the appointment, and Donna hoped she’d never let it go.

One night Donna complained to Rose about how much harder it was to find a job now. She went on for a good hour, maybe two, about how she’d never amount to anything at this rate. She should just sit in this bloody wheelchair and rot. Rose had listened to every word, and at last looked her square in the eye.

“Stop talking.”

Caught off guard, Donna scoffed. “Excuse me, was I moaning too much for you? You never say anything, so.”

“Let’s go for a walk,” Rose smiled, and it was like a flower blooming, or a ray of sunlight through the clouds. “I want to show you something.”

The smile did something funny to Donna’s insides, and her cheeks warmed as she looked down. “Okay, fine.”

They went around the city, Donna in the wheelchair and Rose with her hands shoved in her pockets, or pushing Donna along if her arms got too tired. It felt like they were just aimlessly wandering, when Rose came to an abrupt stop by an abandoned, unkempt lot.

“Do you see it?” Rose asked.

Donna looked around. “See what?”

“The blue box.”

Then she saw it. Like it had always been there just under the eaves of the nearby building, surrounded by overgrown weeds. The time machine.

“Blimey.”

“I come here a lot,” Rose said as she pushed Donna onto the lot, following a narrow trail. “Live here, actually.”

“You said it was dying.”

They came within a few feet of the police box, and Rose walked forward, placing her hand on the door reverently.

“Not anymore. Want to come inside?”

Donna nodded, and Rose withdrew a key on a chain from under her shirt. She unlocked the door, and held it open as Donna wheeled herself inside. The moment that Rose closed the door, Donna was overcome with a cool sensation, flowing over her mind. She closed her eyes, her body tingling.

“Sorry, forgot to warn you that she’s telepathic.”

“Who bloody cares, we’re inside of a space ship!” Donna grinned and wheeled up to the console, rounding it once. “I mean, as long as it’s not gonna mess around in there.”

Rose smiled and sat on the jump seat. “Nah, just a surface level connection.”

“Do you know how to fly it?”

Rose shook her head. “Not enough power. I’m not sure how to find the power she needs, but ‘till then she’s on standby only.”

Donna locked her chair and pushed herself out of it, hand on the console to steady herself. She took a few steps, and gazed up at the central column, which pulsed and hummed almost as though responding to her smile.

“I think she recognizes you,” Rose said.

Donna turned around and saw the tears in Rose’s eyes, which were trained on a post-it note on the console. A lock of her blonde hair fell from behind her ear, and Donna wanted to tuck it back into place. She sat down next to her on the jump seat instead, the ache in her hips and leg reminding her that this wasn’t a dream.

They both sat quietly in reflective silence for a time, and at last Rose looked over.

“Wanna help me find it?” She grinned, brighter than before.

The Doctor must’ve been helpless on the receiving end of that smile. Donna’s lips quirked. “Find fuel for this ship?”

“Yeah. There’s gotta be a way. And if not, maybe we’ll have a bit of fun trying.”

“But, why me? For something like that, I mean. Wouldn’t you want someone more, I dunno… qualified?”

Rose put her hand on Donna’s shoulder, her thumb stroking across her hair. “There’s no one more qualified in the whole universe.”

—-

A week passed, and Donna hadn’t heard from Rose. She stopped by the TARDIS on her way home from a temp job interview, hoping to find her there.

“Do I just…” She knocked on the blue door awkwardly.

After a few minutes of waiting, Donna began to head back to her wheelchair. The door opened before she could sit.

“Yeah?” came a weary voice from behind.

Donna turned around, and gasped softly at the sight of her friend. Her slightly greasy hair hang limp around her face, and her eyes were red and puffy, but she attempted a feeble smile all the same.

“Donna.”

Donna limped towards Rose and put her hand on her shoulder. “Oh, my god, what’s wrong?”

Rose shook her head, and helped Donna inside. They sat on the jump seat, and Donna remained quiet as she waited for Rose to work through a swell of emotion.

“It’s been a year,” Rose said finally.

Donna knew what she meant. She opened her arms, and Rose fell against her, burrowing her face against the lapel of Donna’s jacket. Donna rubbed her back and dragged her fingers through her hair, her own heart breaking.

“You loved him,” Donna said after a time.

Rose backed up, pulling out of Donna’s embrace to look her in the eye. “More than anything.”

Donna reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind Rose’s ear, her fingers lingering along her jaw. Rose’s eyes fluttered shut as tears slipped down her cheeks.

—-

Donna insisted that Rose come with her to see the stars. Rose had said that she didn’t care much for stargazing anymore, but came along anyway.

They arrived on the hill where Donna’s grandfather had set up his telescope at the perfect height for her to look through from her wheelchair.

“Can’t remember what it is I’m looking at,” said Donna with a laugh. “Well, stars.”

Rose leaned over to peer through the eyepiece, then stepped away, wrapping her arms around herself. “Leonine galaxies. That’s the constellation Leo, and the two brighter lights are spiral galaxies.”

“Galaxies! Blimey.”

Rose fidgeted with her earring. “Yeah.”

“I still want to help you find that fuel.”

Rose kept her eyes focused on the sky. Her hair was pulled back in a loose braid, wisps framing her face. A weird knot formed in Donna’s stomach, not only brought on by her friend’s prolonged silence. It moved up into her chest, making her heart expand and beat a little harder. She wanted to reach for Rose’s hand, or hold her again, and her fingers curled around the arms of her wheelchair instead. She’d never felt this way about a woman before. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever felt this way before at all.

“I was hopin’ you’d say that,” Rose said at last.

“Good. ‘Cos I think you need someone. You know, someone other than that old ship.”

Rose looked down, searching Donna’s face. “Where do you wanna begin?”

“Oh, I haven’t got a bloody clue. I was gonna leave that bit up to you.”

Rose laughed, and Donna tilted her head with a smile, watching her face light up.

“You want chips?” she asked, running her hands over her stomach.

Donna snorted. “I bring up travelling ‘round the world in search of warp crystals or whatever the hell that thing needs, and the first thing you wanna do is visit a chippy?”

Rose shrugged a shoulder. “I’m paying.”

“Oh, why the hell not.”

—-

The next time they sat together in the TARDIS, after a trip north to follow strange energy signatures, Rose reached for Donna’s hand in mid-recollection.

It happened quite on accident, had to’ve, as though it was some old habit of hers. Donna stared at their entwined fingers, her heart racing.  She looked up when Rose stopped talking.

“Sorry.” Rose began to slip her hand from her grasp, but Donna held on.

“It’s okay. It’s nice.”

Rose smiled shyly, and squeezed. “Yeah.”

They gazed at one another, and Donna was surprised to find an echoing warmth in the other woman’s eyes. Maybe she wouldn’t have to say anything. Maybe whatever she was feeling could just remain an unspoken thread binding them together.

Rose broke away first to look up at the central column, but didn’t let go of Donna’s hand.

“I’m glad I’m stuck here with you,” Donna blurted. Oh, hell, that went against everything she’d just got through hoping. Her cheeks burned and she quickly scrambled to recover. “Ah, there might be another me and you out there travelling with some barmy spaceman, but I’ve got you here and I’m happy.”

Rose squeezed Donna’s hand. “It’s hard without—” Her voice broke and she took a deep breath, jaw clenching and then relaxing. “Yeah, I’m glad you’re here.” She shifted in the seat, bringing herself a little closer.

Donna smiled, butterflies rioting in her stomach as the scent of Rose’s hair filled her next inhale.  

They resumed a typical conversation then, working out their next adventure. As she watched Rose branch off to reminisce about a place called Woman Wept, Donna realised she hadn’t had a headache in months.

—-

Rose ran into an alley far ahead, and Donna followed. They’d been separated by a procession of alien guards, but luckily Donna’s new UNIT-issued, motorized chair could cover whatever ground had stretched between them in under a minute.

Speaking of, soldiers flooded into the town at last, regaining control from the invading Feluriks. Donna caught up with Rose in the alley, and pulled up next to her.

Rose leaned over to catch her breath, hands on her knees. “That was close!”

“Reckon UNIT can take it from there,” Donna said, removing her helmet.

“Yeah.” Rose grinned at her, tongue at her teeth. “That was brilliant, what you did. They didn’t see it comin’!”

Donna wiggled her fingers, flashing her teeth. “Hundred words per minute. Think I know my way around a keypad.”

“Not just that. You figured out guard maneuver patterns just from looking at the servant’s schedules.”

“Yeah, well, anyway. I saved your pretty arse. D’you have to wander off like that?”

“Only when I’m on to something.”

Rose stepped up onto the ledge on the back of Donna’s motorchair so she could lean over and wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Thank you for rescuing me.”

Donna turned her head to press her cheek against Rose’s as they embraced. “Guess it was your turn this time. Let’s get washed up. You smell like felurik slime.”

Rose wrinkled her nose. “You’re a bit ripe yourself.”

“Oi! They got me on the way out.”

Rose laughed, and Donna’s heart soared when she placed a kiss at the corner of her lips.

As time went on, their search for a compatible power source gave way to a simple love of adventure and helping people in need. Donna had stopped caring if they found anything long ago, but she knew that it’d always be part of what pulled Rose’s heart onwards, and so she remained by her side.  

Donna encountered a few hardships along the way. It wasn’t always easy to adapt to a life like this without the ability to run, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying. Not anymore.


End file.
